"It is just a great win," Rodriguez said. "I am so proud of
these young men."

Michigan (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) looked listless in falling behind,
19-0, through the opening 30 minutes and entered the break to a
chorus of boos from the capacity crowd at Michigan Stadium.

But in the 500th game played at the storied stadium, the
Wolverines reeled off 27 straight second-half points to record
the second-biggest comeback victory in school history.

"There was no panic," Rodriguez said. "We were just trying to
make some corrections. But if there was a hole to crawl into,
I'm sure a bunch of us, including myself, would have liked to
crawl into it.

"But we didn't. We hung in there with the guys and they did a
tremendous job on defense to keep us in it. That's why I felt
at halftime that we still had a chance."

It was a signature win for Rodriguez, who received a hero's
welcome upon his arrival to Ann Arbor in the winter but has come
under fire following Michigan's inauspicious start .

Rodriguez, who already compiled an impressive coaching resume
during his seven-year stint at West Virginia, guided Michigan to
the biggest comeback win since the Wolverines started playing
their home games here in 1927.

The largest deficit Michigan has ever rallied from was a
21-point margin in 2003, when the Wolverines posted a 38-35 win
at Minnesota.

"Obviously, the crowd helped us in the second half," Rodriguez
said. "We had a bounce in our step in the fourth quarter and we
pulled off a great win."

Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1) appeared headed to an easy win after
forcing five turnovers in the first half.

But the Wolverines played inspired football after the break and
took their first lead of the game at 20-19 when linebacker John
Thompson intercepted a tipped pass at Wisconsin's 25-yard line
and followed a host of blockers across the goal line with 10:24
remaining.

"My first goal was to get to the end zone," Thompson said. "The
ball popped up, so I ran to the football and got my hands on it
and as soon as I did, I was thinking end zone."

Michigan expanded its lead to 27-19 on Sam McGuffie's 3-yard
touchdown run with 5:11 remaining.

That set the stage for a wild ending. After losing a fumble
deep in Michigan territory on their previous possession, the
Badgers pulled within 27-25 on Allan Evridge's 22-yard TD pass
to David Gilreath with 13 seconds left.

Wisconsin appeared to forge a tie when Evridge found tight end
Travis Beckum for a diving two-point conversion. But the play
was nullified by an ineligible receiver penalty on Beckum, and
Evridge's pass on the ensuing attempt sailed well out of the end
zone.

"It was improper alignment on our part, which was kind of the
story for us all day," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said.
"Travis wasn't lined up correctly."

The failed conversion essentially ended the contest and secured
Michigan's 23rd consecutive win in a Big Ten home opener.

Conversely, Wisconsin dropped its fifth consecutive contest here
and fell to 6-27 all-time at the Big House. The Badgers have
not won here since 1994.

Michigan finally got on the scoreboard with 2:22 remaining in
the third quarter when Steven Threet, who struggled in the first
half, found Kevin Koger for a 26-yard touchdown pass to make it
19-7.

The Wolverines clawed within 19-14 on Brandon Minor's 34-yard TD
run with 10:27 remaining. Thompson rumbled for his go-ahead
score just three seconds later.

"There were doing a great job up front and bringing guys that
have a great group back on defense," Evridge said. "They bring
things, but that's football."

Michigan was outgained, 384-268, in a game that was marred by a
combined total of nine turnovers.

Threet completed just 12-of-31 attempts for 96 yards and was
intercepted twice. The freshman finished with 89 rushing yards,
including a 58-yard scamper that set up McGuffie's TD in the
fourth quarter.

"I have to take my hat off to our defense," Threet said. "They
played amazing and kept us in the ballgame in the first half,
and we weren't doing it ourselves."

"(Threet) normally makes great decisions, but he didn't make
good ones in the first half," Rodriguez added. "He hung in
there, and we had to hang in there with him because he is our
best one."

Evridge finished 20-of-37 for 226 yards and two interceptions.
Wisconsin's John Clay rushed for 52 yards and scored on a 5-yard
run in the second quarter that gave the Badgers a 13-0 cushion.